Queensland Roar switching base to Ballymore

[Dasher39]

Queensland Roar switching base to Ballymore
By Marco Monteverde
October 21, 2008 08:30am

QUEENSLAND Roar will today announce they are moving into rugby union heartland, with the A-League club to base itself at Ballymore.

The Roar will abandon their current Richlands home and switch their administration and training base to the Herston venue, the home of rugby union's Queensland Reds.

The club has called a media conference for later this morning when it will announce the Ballymore move, which is expected to happen within a fortnight.

Will definitely provide a better training base for them, I know Pim has always been very happy with Ballymore.

I do wonder if it's the first step in moving their home games to Ballymore. They're crowds are down and look dismal at Suncorp and it was known that they do get charged a rather large rent and need about 20k to break even.

[hellas7]

Originally Posted by Dasher39

Will definitely provide a better training base for them, I know Pim has always been very happy with Ballymore.

I do wonder if it's the first step in moving their home games to Ballymore. They're crowds are down and look dismal at Suncorp and it was known that they do get charged a rather large rent and need about 20k to break even.

It is a smart move, i'd imagine it will also be another step towards completely breaking away from the Lions, new venue, new colours, new name maybe? financially it will save them but the overall brand will suffer moving to an ordinary venue compared to suncorp that has the 5-6k brisbane strikers nsl stigma attached to it, its a massive shame because the roar at suncorp had massive potential, imo a move to ballymore probably means that they would be doing well to just crack 10k....and even that might be a struggle, no doubt the clubs image will suffer.

[mayor west]

Roar move to Ballymore

http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,...-23215,00.html

October 21, 2008 THE Queensland Roar will relocate their headquarters to Ballymore, described by Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek as the best training facility in Australia.

The Roar's decision to move from their Richlands base west of Brisbane is seen as a boost to the Queensland Reds' push to turn the famous rugby union ground into a world-class sports centre.

Chief executive Lawrence Oudendyk said the Roar were excited about Ballymore's $100 million redevelopment plans which would include the creation of a third playing field.

"The training facilities at Ballymore are second to none,'' Oudendyk said.

"As you know the Socceroos were based here last week and comments were made this is the best training facility in Australia.''

The joint venture can only enhance Ballymore's application for federal funding needed to complete its redevelopment which would also include a swimming pool, medical centre and a motel for visiting teams.

"This is a vote of confidence in our existing facilities - including what is already the best training surface in Australia - and in our plans to develop this asset to a new level of sporting amenity,'' said Queensland Rugby chairman Peter Lewis.

"Ballymore is big enough for both of us - and hopefully for other sports looking to put down roots in this fantastic location, so close to the CBD.''

Oudendyk avoided commenting on whether the new partnership would lead to the Roar playing home games at Ballymore once the current expensive two-year deal with Suncorp Stadium expired.

The Roar are barely paying the rent at Suncorp with crowd levels slipping.

"At this point it's our training and operational headquarters,'' said Oudendyk.

"But both the Reds and ourselves play in a national competition so there's a lot of synergies we can look at in moving forward."

"It's an historic day.''

.

[NUFCMVFC]

Might be something to consider, people carry on about Suncorp being the best football stadium in the country blah blah blah but from a fans perspective it doesen't have a good reputation and the security act like jerks and the regulations are draconian from what I've been able to gather

[box]

Originally Posted by NUFCMVFC

Might be something to consider, people carry on about Suncorp being the best football stadium in the country blah blah blah but from a fans perspective it doesen't have a good reputation and the security act like jerks and the regulations are draconian from what I've been able to gather

and that never happens elsewhere around country.
security are just frustrated wannabe coppers.
as for suncorp it is best place to watch football in australia.

[Liam]

Ballymore is alot more in proportion to what Queensland currently is than Suncorp. A Ground with more personality to it will eventually increase crowds and look heaps better on TV. Hopefully they do move their home games there. Now all they need to do is to change their name to Brisbane and tweak their colours and they're sweet!

[azza]

Originally Posted by box

and that never happens elsewhere around country.
security are just frustrated wannabe coppers.
as for suncorp it is best place to watch football in australia.

Lang Park is a great stadium for sure... but in terms of security, Gabba is worse

[Kris]

Wasn't ballymore the home of the Strikers admin for a while? I think they even played there a few seasons...

[media watch]

Originally Posted by box

and that never happens elsewhere around country.
security are just frustrated wannabe coppers.
as for suncorp it is best place to watch football in australia.

What about BJS? Now that's the best place to watch football as you well know.

[AUFC_01]

still wont win at home

[Patch80]

Andrew, Lang Park is the best rectangular football stadium in the country at the mo, but yeah security are often way over the top, but that is a universal common theme.

On another point, Ballymore may be a good training facility, but it is hardly appropriate for viewing football IMO. It has some of the worst stands and sight lines around and if you're struggling with attendances then taking your loyal fans to a stadium that provides a lesser quality viewing experience is not going to spike attendances. However, if the economics of playing at the other joint are not adding up then you have to re-assess. All clubs appear to be struggling with attendances though so.......

[Dasher39]

It seems a complete rebranding is on the cards.

Queensland Roar to change name, kit and home
By Marco Monteverde
October 21, 2008 11:00pm

HAVING cut all ties with former parent club Queensland Lions, Queensland Roar is considering a change of name, colours and home ground.

The Roar yesterday announced it was abandoning their Lions-owned Richlands training and administration base for the rugby heartland of Ballymore, the recent beneficiary of a $4.2 million State Government grant.

And next month's move to the Herston venue seems only the tip of the iceberg, with a redeveloped, 25,000-capacity Ballymore looming as the club's future home ground, starting from 2010-11.

By then, it's almost certain the club will have all but abandoned the Lions-associated orange that currently dominates its strip, with maroon likely to become the Roar's main colour.

The other colour that could come under consideration is blue, particularly if the club changes its name from Queensland to Brisbane, as is being discussed.

Roar chief executive Lawrence Oudendyk yesterday admitted the club was contemplating playing home matches at Ballymore when their expensive Suncorp Stadium contract expired at the end of the 2009-10 season.

"If Ballymore is redeveloped, then we'll talk to Ballymore and see what the best offer for us is," Oudendyk said. "We'll consider where we are in 18 months' time.

"I don't rule anything out or anything in."

That includes team colours, with the total split from Lions presenting the Roar seemingly with the perfect opportunity to satisfy the majority of their fans by reducing the amount of orange in their strip.

"(But) nothing will change at this point in time," Oudendyk said. "This move in location has no bearing on what logos, colours or whatever else we choose to play in."

Roar skipper Craig Moore said the move from Richlands would give the club the chance to develop its own identity.

"People are always associating Queensland Roar with Lions," Moore lamented.

Having had a taste of the facilities on offer at Ballymore while in Socceroos camp this month, Moore said the superb playing surface would be of huge benefit to the Roar. Queensland coach Frank Farina agreed, saying the Ballymore surface beat the Richlands grounds "by a country mile".

Thank god for that!!

[Pico300zx]

i like the idea of going to a smaller stadium it will help them build what litte atmosphere they have. Suncorp is a top stadium but if they arnt filling well you can see why they always loose at home. WHo knows they may be doing it to make suncorp give them a better deal - cheaper or we go else where etc..

The only concearn is the rebranding, big mistake IMO. I can live with the name change from qld to brisbane makes sense with Nth QLD and GC coming in but dont change the team colors. If the victory ever changed there colours id go nuts so imagine how die hard supporters in brisbane would feel.

[John Helm]

Extraordinary.

So they should finally become a "Brisbane" football club by name or something similar, which makes so much more sense with two Queensland sides entering the competition.

I'm not all that sure about getting rid of the orange. It looks kinda cool and different. Maybe if they adopt a kit that is perhaps less reliant on orange. Scrap the blue, enhance the maroon maybe. Maybe adopt this particular West Ham United design and swap the blue for orange:

http://www.subsidesports.com/uk/imag...HamHSS0506.gif

Ballymore has a comfortable capacity of 24,000 (would've been ideal for Adelaide United), but it's a shame that RoaR were not able to translate those occasional 20,000+ crowds into an average of around 20,000, as they often looked like doing in the first three season.Just looking at Ballymore, despite it's substantial capacity it looks a bit like a paddock out in the country. Minimal shelter there as well, to protect casual fans from the elements.

http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium...ballymore1.jpg

Certainly room for physical expansion, should the RoaR begin to turn the stadium into a fortress. Finals to be played at Suncorp though?

[bjps]

Originally Posted by Pico300zx

The only concearn is the rebranding, big mistake IMO. I can live with the name change from qld to brisbane makes sense with Nth QLD and GC coming in but dont change the team colors. If the victory ever changed there colours id go nuts so imagine how die hard supporters in brisbane would feel.

Yes but we don't support a club with the worst name and colours in the history of football. I'm sure the die hard supports up there will be relieved.



Can anyone give an idea as to how accessible Ballymore is? From memory I think Suncorp is relatively central and has a train station. I got no idea about Ballymore though.